Driver injured in nomadic gun attack

A driver suffered severe head injuries after he was reportedly shot by persons suspected to be nomadic herdsmen at Suminakese in the Kwahu East District of the Eastern Region.

Isaac Acquah was attending the funeral of his deceased father at Hwehwe when the men he claimed to be herdsmen opened fire on him and three other occupants in the vehicle.

The victim was rushed to the Hweehwee health center and later transferred to the Atibie government hospital where he is currently responding to treatment.

It is not clear yet why the nomadic herdsmen will, without any provocation, attack the natives.

However, attacks and counter attacks between nomadic herdsmen and natives of Ashanti, Eastern, Western and some parts of the Volta Region have been rampant.

The natives accuse the herdsmen of allowing their cattle to graze on their farms and destroy their farmlands.

Some even accuse the herdsmen of raping their women and sometimes killing them.

But the herdsmen also have accusations of their own. They claim the natives kill their cattle and sometimes shoot at their colleagues without any provocation.

In what appears to be a repeat of such attacks the two herdsmen who are now at large, were alleged to have opened fire on the natives, injuring the driver in the process.

The Assemblyman for the area, Solomon Aboagye told Joy News’ Eastern Region correspondent Maxwell Kudekor something drastic must be done to avert such unprovoked attacks in the future.

Narrating what happened, he said the gun wielding herdsmen emerged from the bush and ordered the driver of the vehicle to stop.

He ignored the order and sped off. The herdsmen then opened fire on the driver but he managed to escape danger even though he sustained some head injuries. The incident has since been reported to the police.

Solomon Aboagye said the town is no longer safe because of such unprovoked attacks.

He called on the government to dispatch the military into the area in order to promote better security in the area.